Underseat bookrack



March 5, 1957 c, HOVEN ET AL 2,783,829

UNDERSEAT BOOKRACK Filed Sept. 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Alfred C. Hoflez'z i9 B illiant 5: 11711116613 ATTORNEY United States Patent UNDERSEAT BOOKRACK Alfred C. Hoven and William S. Lindberg, Grand Rapids, 7

Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey The present invention relates to chairs and more particularly to chairs having underseat spaces for books and other equipment, such chairs being primarily intended for use in classrooms.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide an underseat bookrack of such form that books or other equipment will not easily spill out of the rack; to provide such an underseat bookrack which is readily accessible to the chair occupant; and in general to provide such an underseat bookrack which is sturdy though simple in construction, reasonably economical in manufacture and attractive in appearance.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair having a bookrack constructed according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view of parts of the chair shown in Figure 1, the plane of section being indicated by the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, horizontal view of the same taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a chair having a modified form of the new bookrack.

Referring now in detail to these drawings and referring first particularly to Figures 1 through 3, the chair there shown generally comprises front legs 10, 11 connected at their upper ends by a generally channel-shaped cross-bar 12 (see Figure 2) welded thereto, and rear legs 13, 14 connected at their upper ends by a similar cross-bar 15. The cross-bars 12 and 15 have upper front flanges 16, 17 respectively, and rear flanges 18, 19 respectively, and a chair seat 20 is secured to the rear flanges 18, 19 as by means of rivets or bolts 21 as shown.

Back supports 22 are secured as by welding to the underside or webs of the cross-bars 12 and 15, and ex tend upwardly in the rear of the seat 20. A chair back 23 is mounted on the upper ends of the back supports 22 in any suitable manner.

As seen in Figures 1 through 3, the underseat bookrack for the chair is fabricated of metal rod or wire stock. The book-supporting shelf of the bookrack comprises a closed frame 24, the opposite side edges or portions 25, 26 of which are secured to the opposite side pairs of the chairs legs, 10, 13 and 11, 14 respectively, as by means of welding indicated at 27. The frame 24 has a front portion 28 and a rear portion 29, which portions slope inwardly-downwardly from the side portions 25, 26 in a generally V-shape. V-shaped struts 30 extend between, and have their opposite ends welded to, the opposite side portions 25, 26 of the frame 24. A center bar 31 connects the points of the V-shaped front and rear portions 28, 29 of the frame and also the points of the V-shaped struts 30, said center bar 31 being desirably welded to these parts at all points of intersection therewith. The book-supporting shelf thus formed comprises halves which slope inwardly-downwardly into meeting engagement.

A center partition is provided between the sloping 2 halves of the shelf to provide for orderly storage of books 32 and other equipment in the bookrack. As seen in Figures 1 through 3, this partition comprises, a front upright 33, a rear upright 34, and intermediate-uprights 35 which are secured at their lower ends to the center bar 31 as by welding and extend upwardly therefrom. The front upright 33 is secured at its upper end by welding 36 to the cross-bar 12' which connects the chairs front legs 10, 11. The rear upright 34 is secured at its upper end by welding 37 to the cross-bar 15 which connects the chairs rear legs 13, 14. A tie-bar 38 extends between the upper endportions of the front'andrear uprights 33, 34, being desirably secured thereto as by welding. The intermediate uprights 35 of the center partition are secured at their upper ends to this tie-bar 38, also desirably by welding.

-In the modified form of the underseat bookrack shown in Figure 4, the book-supporting shelf comprises sheet metal halves 50, 51, the half 50 being secured at its outer edge to a pair of the chairs legs, 52, 53, at one side of the chair as by welding, and the other shelf half 51 being secured at its outer edge to the pair of the chairs legs, 54, 55, at the other side of the chair as by welding. These shelf halves 50, 51 slope inwardly-downwardly into meeting engagement, and from their line of junction there extends upwardly a sheet metal partition 56 which may be welded at its lower end to the shelf and at its upper end to the front and rear cross-bars 57, 58 which connect the front legs and rear legs respectively of the chair. In this sheet metal form of the bookrack, one or both of the shelfs halves 50, 51 may be provided near its outer edge with a downwardly embossed pencil groove, here designated 59, 60 in the shelfs halves 50, 51 respectively.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a form of underseat bookrack which is readily accessible and uniquely adapted for the orderly storage of books and other equipment. While but two specific embodiments of the invention have been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details thereof may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. In an underseat bookrack for a chair: a supporting shelf comprising halves, one-half secured at its outer edge to a pair of the chairs leg at one side of the chair and the other half secured at its outer edge to the pair of the chairs legs at the other side of the chair, said halves sloping inwardly-downwardly into meeting engagement; and a partition extending upwardly from the intersection of the shelfs halves and secured at its upper end to a cross-bar connecting the chairs front legs and to another cross-bar connecting the chairs rear legs.

2. In an underseat bookrack for a chair: a shelf comprising a frame having its opposite side portions secured to the opposite side pairs of the chairs legs and having V-shaped front and rear portions, V-shaped struts extending between the opposite side portions of the frame, a center bar connecting the points of the V-shaped front and rear portions of the frame and the points of the V-shaped struts, and a partition comprising uprights extending upwardly from said center bar, the front upright being secured at its upper end to a cross-bar connecting the chairs front legs and the rear upright being secured at its upper end to a cross-bar connecting the chairs rear legs.

3. In an underseat bookrack for a chair: a shelf comprising a frame having its opposite side portions secured to the opposite side pairs of the chairs legs and having V-shaped front and rear portions, V-shaped struts extending between the opposite side portions of the frame, a center bar connecting the points of the V-shaped front and rear portions of the frame and the points of the V-shaped struts, a partition comprising front, rear and Patented Mar. 5, 1957 necting'the chairs rear legs, and a tie-bar extending be-- tween the upper end portions ofthe front and rear up-:-

rights said intermediate upright being secured at its upper end to said tie-bar.

4. An underseat bookrack according to claim 3, characterized by having the frame, the struts, the center bar,

the uprights and the tie-bar all fabricated of Wire stock.

5; In an underseat bookrack for a chair: a shelf com prising a frame having its opposite side portions-secured to the opposite side pairs. of the chairs legs and having V-shaped front and rear portionga center bar connecting the points of the V-shapedfront and rear portions of the frame, a front upright extending upwardly from said center bar and secured at its upper end to a cross-bar con necting the chairs front legs, and a rear upright extending upwardly from said center bar and secured at its upper end to a cross-bar connecting the chairs rear legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 173,386 Ryan Nov. 2, 1954 925,577 Gordon June 22, 19.09 983,116 Billstone June 30, 1911" 2,540,254 Gerber Feb. 6, 1951 2,579,606 00111 et al. Dec. 25, 1951 2,624,392 Bergen Jan. 6, 1953 2,633,899 Armstrong Apr. 7. 1953 

